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Tuesday, June 29, 2010

I was stunned when I read on the front page of “El País” that the “Bernabeu is too Small for CristianoRonaldo,” when over 75,000 fans gathered, not to watch him play, but simply to “see” him, to worship their new idol, the new draft pick who joined the Real Madrid team for 94 million euros. 75,000 inside the stadium and several thousand left outside during the most massively attended debut on record...!

I then asked myself if it is worth the effort to continue to fight for democracy, for social justice and peace... Will we one day be able to mobilize people to meet the challenges of our times? It was in June, 2009... when I told myself that if the majority looks in the direction that the globalizers want them to, the great problems will remain unresolved. Poverty and violence will continue, thousands of children will continue to die each day... Each day over 60,000 people die of hunger and neglect, almost the same number that crowded together that day in the Bernabeu Stadium.

And then, when I observed one of the boys who were jumping for joy at the sight of that excellent Portuguese player, I thought that it is indeed worth the effort –for that child, for the children, because we owe them a radical change—to continue this uphill struggle on the road to peace and solidarity, with efforts to counteract the practically total lack of aid... Convinced that soon there will be many who will look at their children and young people in the same way, joining a rebellion that may lead to a “new beginning” of that other possible world to which we all aspire